Final Cut Express 2 Editing Workshop, 2nd Edition

Final Cut Express 2 Editing Workshop, 2nd Edition

by Tom Wolsky
Released May 2013
Publisher(s): Focal Press
ISBN: 9781136061899

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Book description

Nonlinear, or digital, editing involves the manipulation of digitized video. Software applications permit the editor to cut, splice, make transitions, and edit film more precisely than was ever possible with conventional film editing techniques. Final Cut Express 2 is an inexpensive version of Apple's Final Cut Pro software, the leading nonlinear editing program for the Mac platform. In its first year, Final Cut Express proved to be a compelling alternative for hobbyists, students, and professionals who had formerly been limited to iMovie.


Final Cut Express 2 Editing Workshop is a classroom-in-a-book that teaches readers the art and technique of editing with Final Cut Express 2. It features a series of tutorials that cover the complete range of tasks, from installing the application to outputting. All of the necessary materials, including raw video footage and sequences, detailed instructions, and techniques taught in film schools, guide the reader to a working knowledge of Final Cut Express 2. The companion DVD includes a video introduction to Final Cut Express 2 specially designed for iMovie users, as well as tutorial media and plug-ins.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Introduction
    1. What Is Editing?
    2. Who Am I To Write This Book?
    3. Who Is This Book For?
    4. What’s on the DVD?
    5. Acknowledgments
  7. Lesson 1 Installing Final Cut Express 2
    1. What You Really Need
      1. Memory: How Much and What Kind
      2. Multiple Drives
      3. Optimizing Your Computer for FCE
      4. Monitors
      5. Speakers
    2. Firing Up the Application
      1. Understanding the Interface
      2. The Primary Windows
      3. Tabbed Palettes
      4. Browser
    3. Importing Files
      1. Importing Music
    4. Browser Views and Buttons
      1. Browser Details
    5. Viewer
      1. Viewer Buttons
      2. Top of the Viewer
      3. Viewer Time Displays
    6. Playing Clips
      1. Spacebar
      2. Keyboard Shortcuts
    7. Exploring the Canvas
      1. Timeline Window
      2. More Timeline Functions
    8. Summary
  8. Lesson 2 Getting Material into FCE2
    1. Setting Up a New Project
    2. User Preferences
    3. General Preferences
    4. Timeline Options
    5. Render Control
    6. System Settings
    7. Scratch Disks
    8. Memory & Cache
    9. Playback Control
    10. External Editors
    11. Easy Setup
    12. Capture
    13. Strategies for Capturing
      1. Capture Now
      2. Clip
      3. Project Capture
    14. Summary
  9. Lesson 3 Cutting Up Those Shots
    1. Loading the Lesson
      1. Importing the Movie
    2. DV Start/Stop Detect
    3. Using Markers
    4. Slicing Your Clips
      1. Slice 1
      2. Slice 2
      3. Slice 3
      4. Range Clipping
    5. Organizing the Clips
    6. Look before You Cut
    7. Summary
  10. Lesson 4 Editing Basics: Building Your Sequence
    1. Loading the Lesson
    2. Setting Up the Project
    3. Working with the Clips
      1. Overwrite
      2. Insert
      3. Alternative Overwrite and Insert
      4. Replace
      5. Fit to Fill
      6. Superimpose
      7. Making a Sequence
      8. Swap Edit
      9. Storyboarding
    4. The Trim Tools
      1. The Ripple Tool
      2. The Roll Tool
      3. The Slip Tool
      4. The Slide Tool
    5. Summary
  11. Lesson 5 Adding Transitions
    1. Loading the Lesson
    2. Applying Transitions
      1. Checking the Media
      2. Using the Edit Overlay
    3. Rendering
      1. Render Commands
      2. Render Control
      3. Render Management
    4. Controlling Transitions
    5. Transition Editor
    6. Using Transitions
      1. Page Peel
      2. Push Slide
      3. Gradient Wipe
      4. Favorites
    7. Conclusion
  12. Lesson 6 Advanced Editing: Using Sound
    1. Setting Up the Project
    2. The Trim Edit Window
    3. The Split Edit
      1. In the Timeline
      2. In the Viewer
    4. Controlling Levels
      1. In the Timeline
      2. Fading Levels in the Timeline
      3. Controlling Track Levels
      4. More Fades
      5. In the Viewer
      6. Middle of the Sequence
      7. End of the Sequence
    5. Voice Over
    6. Summary
  13. Lesson 7 Adding Titles
    1. Loading the Lesson
    2. Setting Up the Project
    3. Text Generator
      1. Text
      2. Lower Thirds
      3. Typewriter
    4. Title 3D
    5. Title Crawl
    6. Nesting
    7. Photoshop Titles
      1. Resolution
      2. Fading
    8. Summary
  14. Lesson 8 Animating Images
    1. Loading the Lesson
    2. Motion Window
    3. Keyframing
      1. Scale
      2. Rotation
      3. Center
    4. Straight Motion
    5. Curved Motion
      1. Changing Speed
      2. Anchor Point
    6. Other Motion Controls
      1. Crop
      2. Distort
      3. Opacity
      4. Drop Shadow
      5. Motion Blur
    7. Animation Effects
      1. Pan and Scan
      2. Animating Text Files
      3. Split Screen
      4. Picture in Picture
    8. Brady Bunch Open
      1. Sliding White Bar
      2. Fixing the Headshot
      3. Middle Headshots
      4. Extending
      5. Adding More Headshots
      6. New Headshots
      7. Final Headshots
      8. Titles
      9. Final Polishing
      10. Fade to Black
    9. Summary
  15. Lesson 9 Adding Special Effects Filters
    1. Loading the Lesson
    2. Applying a Filter
    3. Some Useful Filters
      1. Gaussian Blur
      2. Bevel Border
      3. Channel Arithmetic
      4. Channel Offset
      5. Compound Arithmetic
    4. Color Correction
    5. Color Corrector
    6. Desaturate and Sepia
      1. Desaturate
      2. Sepia
    7. Keying
      1. Color Smoothing - 4:1:1
      2. Chroma Keyer
      3. Spill Suppressor-Blue and Spill Suppressor-Green
      4. Matte Choker
    8. Mattes
      1. Eight-Point Garbage Matte
      2. Extract
      3. Mask Shape
      4. Widescreen
    9. Perspective
      1. Basic 3D
      2. Flop
    10. QuickTime
      1. Color Tint
    11. Stylize
      1. Find Edges
      2. Replicate
    12. Video
      1. De-interlace and Flicker
    13. Summary
  16. Lesson 10 Compositing
    1. Loading the Lesson
    2. Generators
      1. Render
    3. Compositing Modes
      1. Compositing Exercise
      2. Instant Sex
      3. Noise Exercise
    4. Travel Mattes
      1. Area Highlight
      2. Highlight Matte
      3. Glints
      4. Soft Edge Split Screen
      5. Video in Text
      6. Outline Text
      7. Grunge Edges
      8. Bug
      9. Day for Night
  17. Lesson 11 Outputting from Final Cut Express
    1. Record to Tape
    2. Print to Video
    3. Export
    4. QuickTime Movie
    5. QuickTime Conversion
      1. Video export
      2. Image sequence export
      3. Still image export
    6. Audio Export
    7. Archiving
    8. Summary
  18. Index
  19. What’s on the DVD?

Product information

  • Title: Final Cut Express 2 Editing Workshop, 2nd Edition
  • Author(s): Tom Wolsky
  • Release date: May 2013
  • Publisher(s): Focal Press
  • ISBN: 9781136061899